- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: W&N (11 April 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 030436245X
- ISBN-13: 978-0304362455
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 1.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 881,299 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
'Ideal before-you-go reading' (The Daily Telegraph )
'...a series which is invaluable. Whether you're travelling or not.' (The Guardian )
'One of an excellent series of brief histories'. (The New York Times ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
'...a series which is invaluable. Whether you're travelling or not.' (The Guardian )
'One of an excellent series of brief histories'. (The New York Times ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Book Description
This sparkling new edition to the prestigious Traveller's History series is written by Ian Robertson, the author of the Blue Guides to Portugal and Spain
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Portugal is situated at the south-western extremity of Europe, covering an area of 88,550 square kilometres (34,200 square miles), approximately one-fifth of the Iberian Peninsula, which she shares with Spain. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Portugal is situated at the south-western extremity of Europe, covering an area of 88,550 square kilometres (34,200 square miles), approximately one-fifth of the Iberian Peninsula, which she shares with Spain. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
39 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Read it with caution
This book contains a lot of information, some correct some incorrect, some useful some unlikely to interest the general reader. Do you really want to read a page-long list of Visigothic kings? Worse than this kind of information is the considerable number of errors, as a typical mistake, "The Luciades". This is supposed to be "The Lusiads" (see "The Lusiads", Oxford World's Classics, a five-star book). This traveller's history puts together a lot of material from different sources, but does so unselectively and without checking for accuracy. This is as bad as the Tyson-Ward Portuguese books!
33 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is not really a history but mainly lists of events a large number of them presented in an unusual way and with the wrong date. Names are often spelt wrong, some beyond recognition. Others are quite amusing in their changed form, like Manrique (Manique). We the readers deserve better, much better. If you want a concise history of Portugal good for the traveller, then you have the right book in Portugal a Companion History by Jose Hermano Saraiva. That one is good!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5 reviews
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Read it with caution
28 Feb 2004
Format:Paperback
Read it with caution
This book contains a lot of information, some correct some incorrect, some useful some unlikely to interest the general reader. Do you really want to read a page-long list of Visigothic kings? Worse than this kind of information is the considerable number of errors,as a typical mistake, "The Luciades". This is supposed to be "The Lusiads" (see "The Lusiads", Oxford World's Classics, a five-star book). This traveller's history puts together a lot of material from different sources, but does so unselectively and without checking for accuracy. This is as bad as the Tyson-Ward Portuguese books!
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
You can't call this a history!
27 Mar 2004
Format:Paperback
This is not really a history but mainly lists of events a large number of them presented in an unusual way and with the wrong date. Names are often spelt wrong, some beyond recognition. Others are quite amusing in their changed form, like Manrique (Manique). We the readers deserve better, much better. If you want a concise history of Portugal good for the traveller, then you have the right book in Portugal a Companion History by Jose Hermano Saraiva. That one is good!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Decent, basic travel history
19 May 2007
Format:Paperback
I don't understand what all the fuss below is about. Some people must be upset with Mr. Robertson for reasons other than the actual content of the book. Yes, he does spell 'Os Luciados' a couple of different ways in this book, and that does seem to be poor editing; however, google indicates that the "misspellings" are all legitimate. I suppose a catholic might find fault with his characterization of Fatima as a "spiritual disneyland." But then, if he wrote about it from a Catholic perspective, it would be a theology rather than a history book.
This book is very obviously meant to be a quick overview of Portugese history for people who are on vacation there. My book dealer even helpfully put it in the "travel" section, rather than the history section. Many times in my travels, I found myself in an interesting place, completely at the mercy of the cretinous author of whatever travel book I was able to procure for myself. Having a slim book like this I can read while travelling, and refer to while in museums and other places of culture (say, to remind myself who Luis de Camoes might be) makes the trip that much more exciting and relevant. While travelling, you do not want some vast tome, impossible to carry around with you: you want a light reference, which includes timelines, and, yes, lists of Visigothic kings. I think this book admirably succeeds in its purpose for Portugal. My trip was dramatically enriched by having this book along. I probably wouldn't choose this book in studying for a test on Portugese history, and I did find it a bit dry in places and perhaps a bit spare in others. I also allow there may be better examples of this 'travel genre' on the subject of Portugese history, but those weren't available in the bookstore. I think the average english speaking tourist to Portugal will be just as pleased with this book as I was.
This book is very obviously meant to be a quick overview of Portugese history for people who are on vacation there. My book dealer even helpfully put it in the "travel" section, rather than the history section. Many times in my travels, I found myself in an interesting place, completely at the mercy of the cretinous author of whatever travel book I was able to procure for myself. Having a slim book like this I can read while travelling, and refer to while in museums and other places of culture (say, to remind myself who Luis de Camoes might be) makes the trip that much more exciting and relevant. While travelling, you do not want some vast tome, impossible to carry around with you: you want a light reference, which includes timelines, and, yes, lists of Visigothic kings. I think this book admirably succeeds in its purpose for Portugal. My trip was dramatically enriched by having this book along. I probably wouldn't choose this book in studying for a test on Portugese history, and I did find it a bit dry in places and perhaps a bit spare in others. I also allow there may be better examples of this 'travel genre' on the subject of Portugese history, but those weren't available in the bookstore. I think the average english speaking tourist to Portugal will be just as pleased with this book as I was.
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